Contents

History

Medieval era

The church was originally built in the twelfth century and dedicated to St Lawrence; the weather vane of the present church is in the form of his instrument of martyrdom, the gridiron.[1] The church is near the former medieval Jewishghetto,[2] which was centred on the street named Old Jewry.[3]

17th century

In 1618 the church was repaired, and all the windows filled with stained glass paid for by individual donors.[5]

The medieval church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London and rebuilt by Christopher Wren between 1670 and 1687.[6] The parish was united with that of St. Mary Magdalen, Milk Street, which was not rebuilt.[5] The church is entirely faced in stone, with a grand east front, on which four attached Corinthian columns, raised on a basement, support a pediment placed against a high attic.[6]George Godwin, writing in 1839, described the details of this facade as displaying " a purity of feeling almost Grecian", while pointing out that Wren's pediment acts only as a superficial adornment to the wall, rather than, as in Classical architecture, forming an extension of the roof.[5]

Inside, Wren's church has an aisle on the north side only, divided from the nave by Corinthian columns, carrying an entablature that continues around the walls of the main body of the church, where it is supported on pilasters. The ceiling is divided into sunken panels, ornamented with wreaths and branches.[5] The church is 81 feet long and 68 feet wide.[7]